Driving mechanism for motor-vehicles.



No. 677,897. Patented July 9, I90l.

.L. B. SMYSEB.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

(Application filed Sept. 8, 1898.)

(No Modal.) 3 Sheets-Sheet WITNESSES: lNVENTOR ATTORNEYS m: Noam: warmsca. vnoraurno. WASMINGTUN. u. c.

No. 677,897. Patented July 9, IBM.

L. B. SMYSER.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

(Annlication filed Sept. 8, 1898.)

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

ATTOR N EYS No. 677,897. Patented July 9, MIL

L. B. SM=YSER. DRIVING MECHANISM FOR MOTUR VEHICLES. I

(Application filed Sept. 8, 1898.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

I WITNESSES: INVENTOR fl; J? W ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT GFFIQZE.

LoUIs B. SMYSER, or ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR To FERDINAND E.CANDA, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR MOTOR-VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 677,897, dated July 9,1901. 7

Application filed September 8, 1898. Serial No. 690,529. (No model.)

ToaZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUIS B. SMYSER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Driving Mechanismfor Hotor-Vehicles and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othroers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to driving mechanism for motor-vehiclesthat is tosay, the mech anism employed for transmitting the power I5 of a gas oroil engine or other motor to the driving-wheels of a vehicle and forvarying the speed and reversing the direction of motion of the Vehiclewithout varying the speed or direction of motion of the motor; and myinvention consists in the combination, construction, and arrangement ofthe parts.

The objects of my invention are to avoid jerking, shock, and jar whenstarting the vehicle or when changing its speed, to reduce the noise toa minimum, and to make the driving mechanism simple, compact, durable,easilyoperated, not liable to derangement, and com parativelyinexpensive. These objects are attained in the invention hereindescribed, and

b illustrated in the drawings which accompany and form a part of thisspecification, in which the same reference numerals indicate the same orcorresponding parts, and in which Figure 1 is a plan View of thedriving-gear 3 5 of a motor-vehicle constructed in accordance with myinvention, portions of the frictionclutehes being shown in section. Fig.2 is a rear elevation of the speed-varying mechanism itself detachedfrom the other portions of 0 the mechanism of the vehicle. Fig. 3 is aside elevation of one of the friction-clutches. Fig.-

4 is a section thereof, and Fig. 5 is a side elevation of another formof clutch slightly different from that shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

In those motor-vehicles which employ oil or gas engines or other primemotors the speed of which it is impracticable to vary according to thedesired speed of the vehicle, and which it is impracticable to reverse,driving and speed varying mechanisms are employed,

which usually contain a plurality of sets of gears, either spu r,sprocket, or frictional, connectiug driving and driven shafts and ar--ranged to be thrown into gear one at a time. It is preferable to usespur or sprocket gears because of the positive drive which they afford;but even when such gears are used it is practically necessary to providefrictionclutches for connecting the gears to the driviug or to thedriven shaft in order to avoid excessive shock and jerking when startingor when changing speed, and the frictional driv ing devices heretoforeemployed for this purpose, even those employed in driving mechanismsemploying only friction-gears, have not permitted as gradual startingor'chang ing of speed as is desirable. I have found that this shock orjerking when starting and when changing speed may be avoided by the useof a type of clutch in which the friction elements are two concentricrings, one of which is split, so as to be slightly flexible, one ringbeing secured to a gearwheel and the other to the shaft on which saidgear is mounted. By means of a cam or other suitable clutch-operatingdevice the flexible ring may be loosened or tightened with respect toits coacting ring and the de-- gree of friction between the two ringsadjusted with great nicety. This clutch perdoes not slip entirely whenclosed gently and then when closed more firmly take hold with a jerk, asis the case with the frictionclutches which have usually been employedheretofore in motor-vehicles.

In the drawings, 1 is a portion of the frame of a motor-vehicle 2 is oneof the two driving-wheels of the vehicle and is mounted upon an axle2,having its bearingin the frame 1, and 3 is a compensating gear of anysuitable construction ,through which the driving wheels are driven,being employed to facilitate the turning of the vehicle, which it doesby permitting the two driving-wheels to move at different speeds whenthe vehicle is turning. The compensating gear is driven by asprocket-chain 4 or other suitable means for communicating motion from ashaft 5, which is the driven shaft of the speed-varying mechanism. Thisspeed-varying mechanism contains, besides the driven shaft 5, a driving-8c mits the vehicle to be started gradually and shaft 6, which may beconnected with the main shaft of the primemotor or may be driventherefrom in any suitable manner. Shafts 5 and 6 have their hearings ina yoke 7, which is secured to the frame of the vehicle and which becauseof its shape is well adapted for holding the shafts and their bearingsin line.

Upon the shaft 6 are a series of spur-gears 8, 10, 12, and 14, and uponthe shaft 5 are corresponding gears 9, 11, 13, and 16. Gears 8, 10, and12 mesh with gears 9, 11, and 13, respectively, and gear 16 is connectedwith and may be driven from gear 14 through an intermediate gear 15,which is employed to reverse the direction of rotation of gear 16 withrespect to gears 9, 11, and 13. three sets of gears which have nointermediate gearsviz., 8 and 9, 10 and 11, and 12 and 13are ofdifferent speed ratios. Gears 8 and 9, 10 and 11, and 12 and 13,respectively, may be said to constitute forward sets of gears, and gears14, 15, and 16 may be said to constitute a reverse set of gears.

Each of the gears upon shaft 5 and also each of the gears upon shaft 6is provided with a friction-clutch of the type above mentioned, by whichit may be thrown into or out of driving connection with its shaft. Oneof these clutches is shown in Figs. 3 and t. It consists of a flange orring 17, carried .by a disk 17 or else by the gear-Wheel which it is todrive, which latter is the case with the larger gear-wheels, such asthose on shaft 5, the disk 17 or gear-wheel being loose upon the shaft,a supporting-wheel 18 within the ring 17 and keyed to the shaft, a splitring 19, also within the ring 17 and secured to support 18 by a screw20, a lever 21, also pivoted to support 18 and having a cam 22 betweenthe ends of the split ring 19, adapted to expand the ring when the leveris moved outwardly, and a cone 23, mounted upon a sleeve forming a partof support 18 and adapted to be moved longitudinallytoward and from theend of lever 21, and thereby to press the lever out when moved towardthe.

lever or to permit the lever to move inward when moved from the lever.The ring 19 is split partly at the center to increase its flexibility.The lever 21 is provided with an adjusting-screw 24, which is the partof the lever which actually comes in contact with the cone 23, and byturning the screw wear of the clutch may be taken up. The operation ofthis clutch is as follows: lVhen the cone 23 is moved toward the lever21 and support 18, the end of lever 21 is forced outward, thus rotatingthe cam 22 slightly and forcing apart the ends of the split ring 19, soexpanding the ring and forcing it into contact with the inner surface ofthe flange 17. between the ring 19 and .flange 17, and therefore theresistance to slipping between flange and ring, may be varied as desiredby moving the cone 23, and in this way the rotation of flange 17 or ofthe shaft, according to The.

.27 and 28.

The pressure which ,is thedriven member, may be caused I of wheels 17,carrying the flanges 17, as

shown in Figs. 3 and 4; but the gears on shaft 5 being of largerdiameter the flanges 17 project from them.

The clutches on shafts 5 and 6 are arranged in pairs and facing eachother, so that a single cone 23, operated by a single shifting-lover andhaving two cone-shaped ends, may be used for operating each pair ofclutches. The cones 23. are shifted by shifting-levers 26, (shown inFig. 2,) having forks working between the collars 25 and secured toshafts Each of these shafts carries shifting-levers for a pair ofclutches on both the driven and the driving shaft, so that the clutchesof each set of gears are operated in unison. Shaft 28 extends on beyondthe yoke 7 to a position where a device for operating the shaft may .beattached conveniently. Shaft 27 does not extend beyond the yoke, but isprovided with a lever 29, Fig. 2, connected by a link 30, Figs. 1 and 2,to a lever .31, Fig. 2, on a hollow shaft 32, surrounding that portionof shaft 28 which projects beyond the yoke 7, and extends to a positionwhere a device for operating it may be attached conveniently. By thismeans the devices for operating all of the friction-clutches may belocated close together.

It will be noted that the clutches on shafts 5 and 6 of each set ofgears are opened and closed together and that normally all of theclutches are open and none of the gears in driving connection with theshafts, so that when the clutches of one set of gears are closed and theshaft 5 begins to rotate the other sets of gears do not also rotateidly. This is an advantage, because thereby much noise and unnecessarywear of the gears is avoided, and it is to avoid this unnecessary noiseand wear that two clutches for each set of gears are provided by me.

vThe operation of the apparatus is as follows: To start the vehicle tomoving forward, the shaft-6 being in motion, the shaft 28 is moved so asto close the clutches of gears 12 and 13, which have the lowest speedratio. The shaft 28 is moved at first so that the rings 19 of thefriction-clutches press against their flanges gently, thus enabling themto slip with respect to the flanges somewhat. As the vehicle gathersspeed the shaft 28 is moved farther until the rings 19 of the clutchesof gears 12 and 13 press tightly against their flanges. If a higherspeed be desired,'the clutches of gears 12 and 13 may be opened by areverse movement of shaft 28 and the clutches of gears 10 and 11 closedby moving the shafts 32 and 27, and if a still higher speed be desiredthe clutches of gears 10 and 11 may be opened and those of gears 8 and 9closed. If it be desired to move the wagon backward, the gears whichdrive it forward being out of driving connection-with their shafts, theclutches of gears 14 and 16 may be closed by a movement of shaft 28 inthe direction opposite to that required to close the clutches of gears12 and 13.

While in the drawings gears of but. one speed ratio are provided formoving the vehicle backward, additional gears of different speed ratiomay be provided as well; but in general it is not necessary to providefor moving a vehicle backward at more than one speed. The number of setsof gears of difierent speed ratio for moving the wagon forward may beincreased or diminished, as desired. In Fig. 5 there is illustrated aform of clutch slightly different from that illustrated in Figs. 3 and4, the flexible ring being upon the outside of its coacting ring. 19 isthe flexible ring, and 17 its coacting or inflexible ring, in

this case being the rim of a wheel. The operating-lever 21 is pivoted toa support 18 in rear of the ring 19 and has two extensions, one alug 33,provided with an adjusting-screw 34, which bears against one end of thering 19, the other an arm 35, connected by alink 36 with the other endof the ring 19. When the lever 21' is moved outwardly, the ends of thering 19 are drawn together, and when the end of the lever 21' is free tomove inward the tension of the ring 19 causes it to move in that manner,the ends of the rings separating.

Having thus completely described my invention, what I claim, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a driving mechanism for motor-vehicles, the combination,withdriving and driven shafts, and gears for transmitting power from oneshaft to the other, of coacting friction rings for corresponding gearson each of said shafts, one of each pair of rings being flexible, andone of each pair of rings being secured to a'gear and the other to asupport keyed to the shaft on which said gear is mounted, a pivotedoperating-lever for each of said rings, for loosening and tightening thesame with respect to its coacting ring, a slidshafts, and gears fortransmitting power from one shaft to the other, of coactingfrictionrings, one of which is split and is flexible, one of said ringsbeing secured to a gear on one of said shafts and the other to a supportkeyed to that shaft, the split ring beingsecured to its support by a pinlocated at a point substantially opposite the place at which the ring issplit, and being split partly at its pointof support to increase itsflexibility, a pivoted operating-lever for loosening and tightening saidflexible ring with respect to its coacting ring, and means for operatingsaid lever, substantially as described.

3. In a driving mechanism for motor-vehicles, the combination, withdriving and driven shafts, andgears for transmitting power from oneshaft to the other, of coacting friction rings, one of which is splitand is flexible, one of said rings being secured to a gear on one of theshafts and the other to a support keyed v to that shaft, a lever havinga cam located between the ends of said split ring and adapt ed to expandthe ring, when rotated, or to permit the ring to contract, according tothe direction of rotation of said cam, and a sliding cone onv the shaft,adapted when moved along the shaft to operate said lever, substantiallyas described.

4:. In a motor-vehicle, the combination ,with a motor, of mechanism fortransmitting mo tion therefrom to the vehicle, including a bandfriction-clutch the band of which is split, said band being secured toits support by a pin located at a point distant from that at which theband is split, and being split partly at its point of support toincrease its flexibility, and means for throwing the same into and outof operation at will, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

LOUIS B. SMYSER.

Witnesses:

F. E. GANDA, H. M. MARBLE.

